Singaporean Jailed 3 Years for Prostitute-Referee Bribes

Photographer: Wong Maye-E/AP Photo

Eric Ding, second left, arrives at the subordinate courts with his lawyers on Monday,... Read More

A Singaporean, who prosecutors claim is linked to an international soccer match-fixing syndicate, was sentenced to three years in jail for supplying prostitutes to three Lebanese referees last year.
Ding Si Yang’s crimes were driven by financial gains, Singapore District Judge Toh Yung Cheong said in delivering his sentence today. There was insufficient evidence to show Ding was a member of a match-fixing syndicate, Toh said.
Prosecutors had asked that the 32-year-old businessman should get as long as six years in jail as the Singapore-based criminal syndicate he was part of had tarnished the country’s image. Ding, who faced as long as 15 years in jail, is appealing his July 1 conviction and shouldn’t be punished for the actions of every match-fixer in Singapore, his lawyer had argued.

Ding, who had claimed he was cultivating the three visiting Lebanese officials as sources for his freelance football journalism, is linked to the syndicate run by another Singaporean Dan Tan Seet Eng, prosecutors had said.
Tan, who was detained in Singapore in October for alleged match-fixing, was identified by European authorities last year as being responsible for fixing or attempting to rig 680 matches from 2008 to 2011.

Photographer: Roslan Rahman/AFP/Getty Images

Ding Si Yang, sentenced to three years in jail for supplying prostitutes to three... Read More

1,400 Arrests

Authorities around the world are seeking to clamp down on match-fixing and illegal soccer betting operations, which Interpol says are often linked to corruption, human trafficking and money laundering. An Interpol-coordinated operation during the recent World Cup in Brazil saw at least 1,400 people arrested in Asia and raids on gambling dens estimated to have handled $2.2 billion in soccer bets.
Singapore police arrested 56 people and seized S$2.8 million ($2.3 million) from illegal soccer betting operations since May 18. Ding, who was charged last year, bet on matches he fixed and benefited from criminal activity, prosecutors said.
He paid S$1.1 million in cash for a house in Singapore’s eastern district, S$551,500 for an Aston Martin V8 Vantage and S$281,403 for a Porsche 911, according to court documents.
Ding would have placed $150,000 on a match had the Lebanese referees rigged the game, prosecutors said. The soccer officials were arrested before they were scheduled to officiate an Asian Football Confederation Cup game in the Asian city on April 3, 2013.
One referee was jailed for six months and the two others were sentenced to three months each after pleading guilty last year to corruptly accepting sexual favors.
The criminal case is Public Prosecutor v Ding Si Yang DAC011276 to DAC011278/2013. Singapore State Courts.